Modern household design is placing light bulbs in increasingly inaccessible locations. The advent of canister lighting recessed into household ceilings has placed light bulbs into openings which are often out of reach of the average person or the openings themselves are too small to allow adequate room to reach in to manipulate the bulb. In addition, these cans can prevent the average person from obtaining a sufficient grip to remove a stubborn bulb which is stuck in the socket. Finally, a newly burned-out bulb may remain very hot to the touch for some time which could burn an unwary individual's fingers.
These problems have been recognized by numerous inventors over the years who have proposed a number of solutions. For instance, Santilli, U.S. Pat. No. 1,024,286, discloses a tool for handling globe lamps. This tool employs a globe receptacle which is configured to engage the nearly vertical sides of a globe-shaped light bulb. A slight vacuum is formed in the interior of the receptacle causing its sides to grasp the sides of the globe. Because the light bulb is grasped with nearly vertical sides of the globe receptacle, the device must be closely sized to the globe-shaped bulb. Further, the device does not appear to be useful for the handling of flood lights or more conical bulbs. Therefore, the device is of limited usefulness.
Another example of a light bulb handling device is illustrated in Pethick, U.S. Pat. No. 2,157,563. This device employs a bulb receptacle which, when pressed onto a screw-type light bulb having a convex lower end, creates a vacuum. The vacuum provides holding power for the manipulation of the bulb. When the user desires to remove the bulb from the receptacle, one portion of the receptacle may be deformed to break the vacuum in the void between the bulb and receptacle. While this device appears to be somewhat more versatile than previous designs, it still requires the bulb surface to be convex and the receptacle cup must be deformed to break the vacuum and allow the device to be removed from the bulb.
Flower, U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,998, discloses a similar design to that of Pethick. In contrast to the design of Pethick, however, Flower employs an annular circumferential ridge to allow his device to handle light bulbs having a smaller circumferential dimension. In addition, Flower incorporates a cushioning pad at the bottom of his receptacle to reduce bulb breakage. However, this pad also restricts the light bulb configurations which can be manipulated by the device.
Odenthal, U.S. Pat. No. 2,545,043, discloses a light bulb changer which requires a relatively complicated check valve system to provide a vacuum within a bulb receptacle area. This vacuum force holds the bulb in place until downward pressure on the receptacle handle opens the check valve to break the vacuum within the bulb receptacle. Again, the geometry of the receptacle cup severely limits the usefulness of the device with respect to bulb type and size.
Finally, Foster, U.S. Pat. No. 2,573,002, discloses yet another appliance for handling overhead electric lamps. This device utilizes a funnel-shaped bulb receptacle for contacting overhead bulbs affixed to an elongate hollow tube. The tube is connected to a piston-type device for creating a vacuum within a void defined by the receptacle and a bulb. Again, the geometry of the receptacle cup severely limits the usefulness of the device with respect to bulb type and size.
After reviewing the prior art, it remains apparent that a new light bulb handling device is needed which is extremely versatile and can handle screw-type bulbs of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Further, a device is needed which can effectively increase the leverage of applied torque to remove stubborn bulbs. These and other needs are met by the following invention.